Jakarta Globe, Benito Lopulala | January 15, 2009
Ki Madrais, born in 1825, is an important figure in the history of the Seren Taun rice harvest festival in Cigugur village.
During his years as an Islamic studies teacher at Heubeul Isuk Islamic boarding school, some 10 kilometers west of the village, Ki Madrais is said to have had an astonishing thirst for religious and spiritual knowledge.
When he preached, Ki Madrais accommodated the principles of Islam — which came to Java Island in the 11th century — with the belief system of his ancestors.
However, his influence over the villagers was viewed suspiciously by the Dutch, who governed the country at the time. Other Muslim leaders in the region also disapproved of Ki Madrais’s teachings, and in 1901 the Dutch administration imprisoned him in Merauke, on Papua Island, for “disturbing public order.”
Ki Madrais spent the following years in and out of prison.
In 1908, he established a new belief system, based on that of his ancestors. His followers were grouped under the name Agama Djawa Sunda.
In 1936, Mount Ciremai in Kuningan stirred to life, with smoke and lava issuing from the summit.
According to legend, Madrais — who would then have been 111 years old — and 200 followers climbed up to the crater of the volcano, taking gamelan instruments with them. In the hope of stopping the terrible advance of the lava, they played music to the mountain.
Villagers whose fathers or mothers joined the 1936 outing said the lava did not flow into the town. This success contributed to the Madrais legend.
In 1964, Madrais’ son, Tedja Buana, (the father of Djatikusuma, a leader in Cigugur) converted to Catholicism, renouncing Agama Djawa Sunda.
The decision was based on a dream he had three years prior, in which Madrais appeared to him, telling him to seek protection under the shade of a white banyan tree.
Buana, interpreting his dream, noticed the similarity between the banyan tree and the Christmas tree, and turned to Christianity for protection.
At the time, Buana was not aware of perils that were to come.
Cigugur villagers say that after the failed coup attempt of 1965, those who refused to follow a state-sanctioned religion were labeled atheists and were therefore vulnerable to being accused of harboring communist sympathies. This put their lives at risk.
Without the white banyan tree dream and Buana’s conversion, many people would have been killed in Cigugur, the villagers say.
But in 1981, about 2,000 Catholic villagers decided to follow a new belief system, closely modeled on Agama Djawa Sunda.
In 1982, however, the government intervened, making it illegal to practice Agama Djawa Sunda or any other religion not supported by the state.
Despite this, three hundred followers continued to follow the belief system, while the rest returned to Islam or Christianity.
After that, there was a period of time in Cigugur village during which the celebration of the Seren Taun rice harvest festival was illegal.
The village in Kuningan district, West Java Province, has often been praised for its religious tolerance.
Villagers, when asked, will say they are proud to have more than one religion in their family’s background.
And yet religious harmony was a long time coming to Cigugur.
During his years as an Islamic studies teacher at Heubeul Isuk Islamic boarding school, some 10 kilometers west of the village, Ki Madrais is said to have had an astonishing thirst for religious and spiritual knowledge.
When he preached, Ki Madrais accommodated the principles of Islam — which came to Java Island in the 11th century — with the belief system of his ancestors.
However, his influence over the villagers was viewed suspiciously by the Dutch, who governed the country at the time. Other Muslim leaders in the region also disapproved of Ki Madrais’s teachings, and in 1901 the Dutch administration imprisoned him in Merauke, on Papua Island, for “disturbing public order.”
Ki Madrais spent the following years in and out of prison.
In 1908, he established a new belief system, based on that of his ancestors. His followers were grouped under the name Agama Djawa Sunda.
In 1936, Mount Ciremai in Kuningan stirred to life, with smoke and lava issuing from the summit.
According to legend, Madrais — who would then have been 111 years old — and 200 followers climbed up to the crater of the volcano, taking gamelan instruments with them. In the hope of stopping the terrible advance of the lava, they played music to the mountain.
Villagers whose fathers or mothers joined the 1936 outing said the lava did not flow into the town. This success contributed to the Madrais legend.
In 1964, Madrais’ son, Tedja Buana, (the father of Djatikusuma, a leader in Cigugur) converted to Catholicism, renouncing Agama Djawa Sunda.
The decision was based on a dream he had three years prior, in which Madrais appeared to him, telling him to seek protection under the shade of a white banyan tree.
Buana, interpreting his dream, noticed the similarity between the banyan tree and the Christmas tree, and turned to Christianity for protection.
At the time, Buana was not aware of perils that were to come.
Cigugur villagers say that after the failed coup attempt of 1965, those who refused to follow a state-sanctioned religion were labeled atheists and were therefore vulnerable to being accused of harboring communist sympathies. This put their lives at risk.
Without the white banyan tree dream and Buana’s conversion, many people would have been killed in Cigugur, the villagers say.
But in 1981, about 2,000 Catholic villagers decided to follow a new belief system, closely modeled on Agama Djawa Sunda.
In 1982, however, the government intervened, making it illegal to practice Agama Djawa Sunda or any other religion not supported by the state.
Despite this, three hundred followers continued to follow the belief system, while the rest returned to Islam or Christianity.
After that, there was a period of time in Cigugur village during which the celebration of the Seren Taun rice harvest festival was illegal.
The village in Kuningan district, West Java Province, has often been praised for its religious tolerance.
Villagers, when asked, will say they are proud to have more than one religion in their family’s background.
And yet religious harmony was a long time coming to Cigugur.
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